Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky reveals new Kyiv-US peace deal as Trump envoys begin Putin talks

19 November: Trump’s 28-point plan

A report in US outlet Axios claimed that Steve Witkoff had developed a 28-point draft plan with Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev.

All three are currently sat around Vladimir Putin’s meeting table in the Kremlin.

But Europe and Kyiv were dismayed, stating that the plan was heavily weighted in favour of Russian demands.

The same day, US Secretary of the Army Daniel P. Driscoll arrived in Ukraine to discuss the peace process with Ukrainian officials.

23 November: The European counter-proposal

Europe issues a counter-proposal following a similar structure to the 28-point plan.

It contains, however, major changes, and does not commit to Ukraine ceding the Donbas to Russia, as the original plan did.

24-25 November: Abu Dhabi

Meetings are held in Abu Dhabi, between Driscoll and a Russian delegation to discuss the revised plan.

30 November: Ukraine-US talks

Kyiv officials head to Florida where they meet with secretary of state Marco Rubio, and envoys Kushner and Witkoff to discuss revisions to the peace plan.

Rubio says the sides are making “progress”.

2 December: Zelensky’s 20-point plan

Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky reveals that the US and Ukraine have agreed on a new 20-point peace deal.

The Ukrainian president said that the original 28-point roadmap proposed by the US last month had been reworked into a new agreement following discussions between officials. The exact details remain unclear.

Witkoff and Kushner head to Moscow, where they lock into talks over the new peace deal with Putin.

Top US officials are meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin tonight.

The high-level talks are looking to achieve an agreement from Moscow to a peace deal negotiated which Washington has been working to force through between Russia and Ukraine.

Who is joining the Russian president around the table?

Steve Witkoff – the billionaire real estate investor with strong ties to Russia

Since Trump’s re-election, the billionaire has served as the United States special envoy to the Middle East and special envoy for peace missions.

He played a key role in negotiating a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas earlier this year, alongside Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Kirill Dmitriev – blacklisted Kremlin official behind Trump’s peace plan

Dmitriev, the Harvard-educated CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), assumed the office of the special presidential envoy on Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation on 23 February this year despite having little diplomatic experience.

The businessman and his organisation have been under US sanctions, effectively barring American citizens and companies from dealing with them, since 2022.

Dmitriev has met several times with some of Trump’s closest officials, including his special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Jared Kushner – Donald Trump’s son-in-law

Kushner is a loyal ally of Donald Trump, and the husband of his daughter, Ivanka, whom he married in 2009.

The 44-year-old has been closely involved with negotiations led by Washington, both in Ukraine and in the Middle East.

Tensions between Lithuania and Belarus have escalated after meteorological balloons from Belarus forced Lithuania to repeatedly shut down its main airport in the past weeks, leaving thousands of people stranded.

While the balloons are used to smuggle cigarettes into Lithuania, officials in Vilnius see their numbers and trajectories as deliberate acts of disruption orchestrated by Belarus, a close Russian ally, as Europe remains on high alert after drone intrusions into NATO’s airspace reached an unprecedented scale in September and the Russian invasion of Ukraine nears its fourth year.

Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte brushed off fresh concern Tuesday about the United States’ commitment to the military organization on the eve of a meeting of allied foreign ministers focused on Russia’s war against Ukraine.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio was expected to miss Wednesday’s meeting, which will unfold during high-stakes negotiations in Moscow and in Europe about Ukraine’s future.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the meeting, Mr Rutte underlined that Rubio has a busy schedule.

“He’s working extremely hard to take care not only of the situation of Ukraine, but of course many other issues which are on his plate,” Rutte said. “So I totally accept him not being able to be here tomorrow, and I would not read anything in it.”

A senior State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the internal administration reasoning for the absence, said Rubio has already attended dozens of meetings with Nato allies, “and it would be completely impractical to expect him at every meeting.

“Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau will attend instead and press the allies to deliver on their commitment to invest 5% of gross domestic product on defense.

Nato has said that Ukrainian forces have ben “virtually encircled” in Myrnohrad and are relying on drones for supplies.

Russian troops now control more than 95 per cent of the city of Pokrovsk, a senior Nato official told European Pravda.

“Myrnohrad is now virtually fully encircled,” the official said.

“There is a narrow corridor through which the Ukrainians can withdraw certain forces, but it is a very narrow corridor, itself under hostile fire control. Overall, this is an encirclement, though not yet a complete encirclement.

Discussing Pokrovsk, the official said: “Ukrainian forces are still conducting defensive actions inside the city, but as supply routes have been almost completely cut, Ukrainian troops are dependent on resupply by drones, which is becoming increasingly difficult.”

“Russians control over 95% of the city… There are only isolated pockets where Ukrainian forces continue to resist.”

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday he was afraid the United States could lose interest in the Ukrainian peace process and that Russia’s goal was to bring this about.

“Yes, I am afraid. If somebody from our allies is tired, I’m afraid,” Zelenskiy told an event in Dublin when asked if he was concerned the U.S. could lose interest in the peace process.

“It’s the goal of Russia to withdraw the interest of America from this situation.”

President Donald Trump has claimed that “big progress” is being made in negotiations aimed at ending the war in Ukraine as his special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived for talks with Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

It includes respect for Ukraine’s territorial integrity, freedom to advance its Nato ambitions and EU membership aspirations and maintain a large military to deter the threat of future Russian aggression.

Several countries and high-profile individuals are involved in the discussions, which have resulted in public disagreements. The Independent looks at some of the key characters below.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday he had some optimism around peace efforts due to the speed of the process and the United States’ interest in finding a solution.

“A little bit optimism was in my words because of some speed of negotiations, and from the American side, their interest in it.

“It showed that America is not withdrawing now from any kind of diplomatic way of dialogue and it is good,” Mr Zelensky told an event during a visit to Dublin.